(14-08-2014 02:59 PM)cjlr Wrote: Most mental illness affecting thought processes does not particularly affect one's ability to be rational, though. The effect is on perception and assumptions. Acts do not seem irrational to those performing them. That includes suicide.

Most people don't generally entertain suicidal tendencies, but at the same time most of us would prefer that control over our own lives (for example, "I would rather die than X", for a great many values of X).

The problem is that it's difficult to judge competence.

The issue is that now the prejudice is that anyone committing suicide has to be incompetent for some reason.

My guess is that the great majority or people above 60 who choose to exit do so for rational reasons. My guess is that the great majority of teens who choose to exit are overly emotional for whatever reason.

The percentage of teens exiting is waaaayyyyy smaller that that of people over 60, these are the majority by far.

Science is the process we've designed to be responsible for generating our best guess as to what the fuck is going on. Girly Man

(12-08-2014 07:22 AM)Dom Wrote: You don't know why he killed himself. Why do people jump to such conclusions?

He was 65. Your body is well on the way to degeneration at that time. He may have committed a perfectly rational suicide based on mental or physical deterioration with an unpleasant future in close sight.

If he were a teenager, it would be a tragedy. If it were a young family man, it would be a tragedy. In both cases it goes against our instincts.

But, as a 65 year old, he may well have opted to live a good life and die a good death.

Things to ponder:

The great majority of suicides are committed by people over 60.

This is such a societal taboo that most are hushed up and the extended family and friends never know. Chances are you have elderly suicides in your family.

Most of these suicides are committed because the person wants a good, peaceful death rather than the lingering, eventually fatal disease, mental or physical, that has raised it's ugly head.

Why force a person to suffer? Why not allow them a good death?

Just be aware that death gets a different meaning as you walk through the phases of life. And, that's a good thing. If the elderly feared death the way that people in their reproductive phase do, it would be a horrible thing.

Don't begrudge him having chosen a good death. You don't know his reasons.

I heard some people on FB saying how selfish he was. How they would never leave behind their young children. I stepped in and explained that his children were grown. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. We may not know his reasons, but that I view his death no differently than if he had terminal cancer. Its bodily automony. It's his life.

A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day - Bill Watterson